For several decades during the second half of the 20th century Australian tennis players dominated the international tennis circuit. This year’s Australian Legends are singles champions from that golden age of tennis. The 12th stamp honours the career of current player, Lleyton Hewitt.

Neale Fraser was a Wimbledon champion and dual US singles winner. Unluckily, he missed out on his national title in three finals.

John Newcombe was a great competitor capturing seven Grand Slam singles titles. He was named Davis Cup captain in 1994, a role he continued until 2000.

Pat Rafter captured back-to-back US Open titles in 1997 and 1998 – the only Australian to do so in the Open era. Rafter was a winner of 11 ATP singles titles.

Tony Roche possessed a lethal left-hand serve that helped him win the 1966 French Open title. A keen Davis Cup player and was a part of winning teams in 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1977.

Known as “Muscles” to his friends, Ken Rosewall is one of the tennis greats amassing 18 major titles, including eight singles titles and a career doubles Grand Slam.

Frank Sedgman took just five years to amass 22 major titles, including five singles titles (Australian Open 1949–50, Wimbledon 1952 and US Open 1951–52).

Fred Stolle contested singles finals at all the Grand Slams, winning at Paris in 1965 and New York in 1966. He was part of Australia’s winning Davis Cup teams in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Lleyton Hewitt will retire from playing tennis after Australian Open 2016. His career achievements include winning the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men's singles titles. He is the most capped Davis Cup player of all time.

Technical details

Issue date: 21 January 2016

Issue withdrawal date: 31 December 2016

FDI withdrawal date: 19 February 2016

Denominations: 12x $1

Stamp and product design: Sonia Young

Printer: McKellar

Paper gummed: Tullis Russell Litho Red Phosphor/Blu PVA

Paper self-adhesive: C100

Printing process: Offeset lithography

Stamp size: 26mm x 37.5mm

Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86

Sheet layout: Module of 10

FDI postmark: Melbourne, Vic 3000

A new Australia Post philatelic website has been launched to provide stamp collectors and Philatelic enthusiasts with a central source of information for Philatelic news, views and events from across Australia and the rest of the World.

The collectables site will be home to a whole host of content including: Australia Post Philatelic news, updates on new collection launches, a look back at past and popular stamp releases and national/international event listings.

Collectors are being encouraged to contribute to the site’s content and demonstrate their passion for the hobby by submitting guest articles that enable them to showcase their collections, give their views on stamp launches both new and old, and/or offer expert advice in specialist areas of Philately.

A photo gallery is also housed on the site and will host images of Australia Post stamps, as well as offering enthusiasts the opportunity to upload their own images and publicly display their favourite, unusual and treasured stamps.

The gallery is linked to the new Australia Post Philatelic Instagram account, which is one of three Philatelic social media channels, which now includes Facebook, as well as the existing Twitter account.

Website visitors who also sign up to receive the Australia Post Philatelic newsletter will be sent a regular email, giving readers an insight into the latest news that can be found in full on the collectables site.